Page 69 of Arranged Control

Float. Flow. Go with the wind. Right now, everything’s pointing me in the same direction.

I holster my gun.

“You don’t know me at all.”

“That you are wrong about. I knew you were smart. I knew you wouldn’t cause trouble.” The laser dot lowers to the ground at my feet, but the threat remains. “We can come to an agreement.”

“Hard for me to negotiate with a woman who’s been murdering my people.”

“They were expendable. Nobody important. Nobody you truly knew or cared about.”

My jaw tightens. “Tell that to their families.”

“You are annoyed only because of their inconvenience. You will have to pay death moneys, yes? This is a very hard thing, but you will handle it.”

“The money means nothing.” I step toward her. The laser dot lands on my feet. “The babies growing up without a father, they matter. The pain of their loved ones matters. We aren’t just an organization. We’re a family.”

She’s silent for a moment. I stare into the darkness, trying to make out her face again. But I still can’t see a thing. Shepositioned herself perfectly to where she has cover from the shelving units but also where there’s almost no light at all.

“Convenient story you tell. Easy way to make the grunts feel valued.”

“What do you want, Molchanie? Did you call me here to criticize my family?”

“Not in the least. I called you here to offer a warning and a solution to our mutual problem.”

“I wasn’t aware we had a problem, at least until you started cutting throats.”

“What I want is simple. I want safety and freedom for Alina Morozov.”

That surprises me. I knew it would have something to do with my wife, but those words,safety and freedom, don’t seem like they fit the situation.

“From my perspective, Alina is safe.”

“You are very wrong about that.” Molchanie sounds angry suddenly. The rage burns sharply. “She is not safe so long as she is married to a man like you.”

“You really don’t know me at all.”

“I said already, I do know you very well. Men like you are the problem. Controlling, possessive, violent men. You know two languages. Sex and violence. Often, they are the same thing to you. So long as Alina is your wife, she will never be safe. Not with you or any man like you. Which is why I offer you this deal. You will divorce Alina. Come up with whatever excuse you must.Leave her and walk away. Give her freedom. Give her safety. And I will leave you and your family in peace.”

My first reaction isfuck no. I don’t even have to think about it. Alina is my wife, she’s all mine, and there’s no way in hell I’m about to give her up. Not when I’ve just started to really like being with her.

At first, I thought it would be some bullshit arrangement I had to deal with, but the more I’m near her, the more I want her. Alina’s worming her way into my life. She’s chewing her way into my brain. I can’t stop thinking about her, and by obsessing about her like this, I’m only making myself need her even more. I’ve never felt so steady before in my life. She makes me want to stop drifting.

I don’t want to give that up.

But the threat hangs there between us.

“If I don’t divorce her?”

“Then I will kill someone you care about every week until you do. No more random grunts from the ranks of your criminal organization. I will end the lives of people who truly matter. I do not care how much blood I spill. I do not care about the lives of monsters. One death per week until there is nobody left. And then I will kill you, and Alina will be truly free.”

I put a hand on my gun, snarling with rage. The laser dot raises to my chest, and I force myself to stop. My heart’s hammering in my head, and I want to charge forward like a raging monster. I want to smash this woman’s skull to tiny fragments. How dare she come here and threaten my family? The people I care about?

But I know it’s not empty. She’s already murdered people for almost nothing. Just as a way to warn me. Oliver died for saying the wrong things, and I have no doubt that Molchanie isn’t finished.

“You’re asking too much.” I lower my hand from my weapon. “My marriage isn’t my own. You know that.”

“Arrangements are made, arrangements are broken. There are other Morozov puppets who can happily ensure your two criminal empires remain tightly bound. It will not be Alina.”